Indian Literature

Introduction

• Language is a medium through which we express our thoughts.
• Literature is ideas and philosophies which govern our society. The various forms of literature are poetry, drama, religious and non-religious writings.
• To know any particular culture, its tradition and civilization it is very important that we understand the evolution of its language and the various forms of literature.

  Indian Languages: The role of Sanskrit

• Sanskrit is the mother of many Indian languages. The Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and Dharmasutras are all written in Sanskrit. Sanskrit is the most ancient language of India used in the Rig Veda, the oldest literary heritage of mankind. It is one of the twenty-two languages listed in the Indian Constitution.

Ancient Indian Literature

• It can be placed in two categories:

1.Religiouis   2. Non Religious/Secular.

  Religious literature has the Four Vedas

A.Rig Veda- It contains 1028 hymns known as Sukta

B.Sam Veda – Hymns that are sung by a special class of priests at the time of some Sacrifice.

C.Yajur Veda – Hymns that are recited at the time of ordinary sacrifice.

D.Atharva Veda – Songs, spells, magical charms for the evil spirits, etc.

• The Brahmanas – Attached to the Vedas. They explain in detail the value and efficacy of sacrifices.
• Aranyakas (अराण्यक) – are the concluding portions of the Brahmanas.
• Upanishads – Meant to be learnt sitting near the guru.
• Epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata
• Buddhist literature & Jain literature

Vedas and Upnishad

• The Vedas are the earliest known literature in India which was written in Sanskrit. The word ‘Veda’ literally means knowledge. There are four Vedas, namely, the- Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. In Hindu culture, Vedas are considered as eternal and divine revelations. They treat the whole world as one human family i.e. Vasudev Kutumbakam.
• It is very difficult to determine the age of the Vedas and also the time they were written. According to Max Muller the Rig Veda was composed before 1000 B.C. While according to Lokmanya Tilak it appeared before 6000 B.C.
• The word Upanishad is derived from upa (nearby), and nishad (to sit-down), that is, “sitting down near”. Groups of pupil sit near the Guru to learn from him in the Guru-shishya parampara or tradition.
• There are more than 200 known Upanishads. The Upanishads form an important part of our literary legacy. They deal with questions like the origin of the universe, life and death, the material and spiritual world and nature of knowledge among others.

The Epics: Ramayana and Mahabharata

• The two great epics of India are the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
• Valmiki originally wrote the Ramayana. It is called Adikavya and Maharishi Valmiki is known as Adi Kavi. The Ramayana presents a picture of an ideal society.
• The other epic, the Mahabharata, was written by Ved Vyas. It is the story of conflict between the Kauravas and the Pandavas.
• The Mahabharata contains the famous Bhagavad Gita which contains the essence of divine wisdom.

Puranas

• After the Vedas and the Epics, Puranas are next important sacred literature of the Hindus. Puranas are mythological works which propagate religious and spiritual messages. They are full of myths, stories, legends and sermons to educate the common people.
• There are eighteen Puranas and about the same number of Upapuranas. Some of the well known Puranas are – Brahma, Bhagvat, Padma, Vishnu, Vayu, Agni, Matsya and Garuda.
• Their origin can be traced at the time when Buddhism was gaining importance and was a major opponent of the Brahmanic culture.

Buddhist and Jain Literature

• Jatakas are the stories on the previous births of the Buddha. Each birth story is called a Jataka. It was believed that before Buddha was finally born as Gautama, he was practicing Dharma passed through more than 550 births, in many cases even in the form of animals.
• The Jatakas throw invaluable light on the social and economic conditions ranging from the sixth century BC to the second century BC. They also make incidental reference to political events in the age of the Buddha.
• The religious books of the Jains and the Buddhists refer to historical persons or incidents. The earliest Buddhist works were written in Pali, which was spoken in Magadha and South Bihar.
• The Jain texts were written in Prakrit and refer repeatedly to trade and traders.

The Gupta Period

• The Gupta period was India’s golden age of culture. The most famous creation of that period was Kautilya’s Arthashastra that provides insights for the study of ancient Indian polity and economy. It reflects the state of society and economy at that time.
• Another famous poet of Gupta period was Kalidasa who wrote many beautiful poems and plays in Sanskrit like, ‘Abhijanam Shakuntalam’ and ‘Meghdoot’.
• In the post medieval period, Kalhan wrote Rajatarangini which gives a detailed account of the kings of Kashmir whereas Jonaraja share the glory of Prithviraj.

Ancient Indian Literature

• India also have a large body of books dealing with various sciences, law, medicine and grammar. The law books are called the Dharmasutras and Smritis, together known as Dharmashastras which were compiled between 500 and 200 BC.
• Dharmashastras lay down duties for different varnas as well as for the kings and their officials. They prescribed the rules according to which property had to be held, sold and inherited. They also prescribe punishments for persons guilty of assault, murder and adultery.
• The Manusmriti tells us about the role of man and woman in society, their code of conduct and relationship with each other.

Northern Indian Language and Literature

• The languages in North India were evolved at two levels:

1.The spoken

2.The written language

• The studies have indicated that all the scripts of present northern Indian languages, except that of Urdu, have had their origin in Brahmi script. The old Brahmi script of the Ashoka days had undergone a great change, which can be understand by comparing the scripts of Gujarati, Hindi and Punjabi.
• As for the spoken word, a large number of people speak Hindi in its different forms that include Braj Bhasha (language used by Surdas and Bihari), Avadhi (spoken in Oudh region, used by Tulsidas in the Ramacharitamanasa), Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Maithili (spoken around Mithila, used by Vidyapati), Rajasthani and Khadi Boli (spoken around Delhi).

Hindi Literature

• Hindi literature looked to Sanskrit classics for guidance and Bharata’s Natyashastra was kept in mind by Hindi writers. Prithviraj Raso is supposed to be the first book in the Hindi language.
• Hindi evolved during the Apabhramsa stage between the 7th and 8th centuries A.D. and the 14th C. It was patronised by the Rajput rulers. The most famous figures from this period were Kabir, Tulsidas, Surdas, Rahim, Mirabai and Bihari.
• Bharatendu Harishchandra was one of the earliest writer who translated Sanskrit dramas to Hindi. The similar trend was adopted by Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi.
• Bankim Chandra Chatterji (1838-94) wrote novels originally in Bangla. They then translated into Hindi and became very popular. Vande Mataram, our national song, is an excerpt from his novel, Anand Math.
• Hindi literature looked to Sanskrit classics for guidance and Bharata’s Natyashastra was kept in mind by Hindi writers. Prithviraj Raso is supposed to be the first book in the Hindi language.
• Hindi evolved during the Apabhramsa stage between the 7th and 8th centuries A.D. and the 14th C. It was patronised by the Rajput rulers. The most famous figures from this period were Kabir, Tulsidas, Surdas, Rahim, Mirabai and Bihari.
• Bharatendu Harishchandra was one of the earliest writer who translated Sanskrit dramas to Hindi. The similar trend was adopted by Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi.
• Bankim Chandra Chatterji (1838-94) wrote novels originally in Bangla. They then translated into Hindi and became very popular. Vande Mataram, our national song, is an excerpt from his novel, Anand Math.
• The other important writers in Hindi literature were Swami Dayanand Sarswati, Munshi Prem Chand, Surya Kant Tripathi, ‘Nirala’, Mahadevi Verma, Maithili Sharan Gupt, Sumitranandan Pant, Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’, Haribans Rai ‘Bacchan’ and Jaishankar Prasad.
• Most of the writers in Hindi literature wrote with a purpose. Swami Dayanand wrote in order to reform the Hindu society and rid it of false beliefs and social evils. Munshi Prem Chand tried to draw the attention of the society to the miserable existence of the poor and Mahadevi Verma, highlighted the conditions of women in the society. ‘Nirala’ became the pioneer of awakening of Modern India.

Urdu Literature

• Urdu emerged as an independent language towards the end of the 4th century AD in India. Arabic was introduced in India with the coming of the Turks and Persian with the Mongols. Persian remained the court language for many centuries. Urdu as a language was born out of the interaction between Hindi and Persian and usages the Persian script.
• Urdu was practiced by a large number of poets and writers. The earliest Urdu poet is supposed to be Amir Khusrau. He started writing as a poet in the reign of Sultan Balban and was a follower of Nizam-ud-din Auliya. Among the important works composed by him are Laila Majnun and Ayina-I-Sikandari dedicated to Alau-din-Khilji.
• Among other well-known poets are Ghalib, Zauq, and Iqbal. It was Iqbal who wrote the “Sarejahan se achcha Hindostan hamara” song. Urdu was patronized by the Nawabs of Lucknow,. Slowly it became quite popular. Pakistan has adopted Urdu as the state language.

Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam Literature

• The four Dravidian languages Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam developed their own literature. Tamil being the oldest of these languages began writing earlier and produced the Sangam literature – the oldest literature in Tamil.
• The Vijayanagara period was the golden age of Telugu literature.
• Tenali Ramakrishna, the court jester, was an interesting figure of the
  Krishnadevaraya’s court. His practical jokes on high-placed men of the time are recounted with pleasure even today.
• Apart from Telugu, Vijayanagara rulers extended their patronage to Kannada and Sanskrit writers as well, and Kannada literature flourished considerably between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries.
• Malayalam developed much later compared to other South Indian languages, though it has made a mark as a powerful medium of expression. The language of Malayalam emerged around the eleventh century AD. By fifteenth century Malayalam was recognised as an independent language.